Meyer Lemon Biscotti

Some people think black eyed peas will bring good luck in the new year.  I've always been a dessert first kind of person, so I thought why not start the year off with biscotti?  It could start a new trend.

This time it's my mother's recipe altered with Meyer lemon standing in for the orange and anise and local flour and walnuts replacing the store bought varieties.  It's not the first biscotti recipe I've posted and it definitely won't be the last.

When I was perusing photos for this post, I found this one taken when my book first came out.  This was at the Edmonds Bookshop, where owner Mary Kaye made carrot hummus and set up this table for my book.

The thing about biscotti is they are easy to make, they freeze well and also make great gifts, if they last that long.

Local whole wheat pastry flour is the way to go with these, but you can use unbleached white flour and they'll turn out just fine.

Walnuts are best and local walnuts even better, but it's a splurge and local walnuts could be scarce this time of year.  I've done hazelnut biscotti in the past, and you could substitute pecans if you want.

No one can resist these twice baked wonders.  In case you're interested here's a bit of biscotti history.  Seems these dry cookies were made for traveling. 

Here's to everything sweet in 2015!

Meyer Lemon Biscotti

(Makes 36 to 45 cookies)

4 cups flour (add enough for a stiff dough)

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 eggs, beaten, or flax seed egg replacer for 3 eggs, whipped

1 cup Florida Crystals, or sugar

1 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Zest and juice from 1 Meyer lemon

1 cup toasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift flour with baking powder and soda.  In another bowl mix eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla extract and lemon zest and juice. Combine the flour and liquid ingredients, adding enough flour for a very stiff dough.  

Form 2 or 3 long rolls about 14-inches long.  If you make 3 rolls, the cookies will be much smaller and you'll get more cookies.   

Place rolls on baking sheet.  Flatten with the tops slightly with your hand. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Slice cookies carefully on the slant, about 1/2-inch thick.

I was promised biscotti.

Sweet Potato-Walnut Biscuits

I meant to post this recipe for sweet potato biscuits last week, but we left for the beach and the truth was it was so relaxing, I never thought about posting anything after we got there.  Guilty of taking too many beach walks.

Washington winter storms chase most everyone away. This makes the beach is so inviting in winter, it's almost like having your own beach.  This lodge is offers three nights for the price of two.  I love the fireplaces in the room and just over the dunes is the beach.

The dogs get to play on the beach.  They don't mind wind or rain.

I like finding colors against the grey winter sky.

On another note, we have also just adopted another basset hound.  Meet Olivia.  She's not quite a poser like my Cooking Assistant but she now likes raw carrots and apples, no big surprise right?  It's baking season again so the homemade dog biscuits just keep coming.

You can buy sweet potatoes locally in the Northwest. These are so good, you may never buy store-bought sweet potatoes again.

They need to be cooked first.  You can bake them or steam them.  Remove the skins before adding the cooked sweet potatoes to the biscuit mix.

I found this biscuit recipe in one of my long-time favorite cookbooks, which as you can probably see has gotten plenty of use since it was published in 1990.

In the stores, I get the variety called Jewel or Red Garnet yams, sweeter varieties with more moisture.  We call some sweet potatoes yams, but true yams are found in Africa and are quite different than these sweet starchy vegetables.

I had a bit of Nash's whole wheat pastry flour (a local farm) left and I used that.  I always end up using more of this flour than store bought varieties, maybe because it's fresh and has more moisture.  If you haven't ever used fresh locally grown flour, you should at least try it once. The flavor is so much better than the bland store bought flour.

Here is my version of this great recipe:

Sweet Potato-Walnut Drop Biscuits

(Makes about 9 large biscuits)

Breakfast, lunch or dinner, these biscuits are good any time.  Thank you Susan Jane Cheney! 

1 orange

1/3 cup almond, rice or soy milk

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

1 cup cooked mashed sweet potato

3 tablespoons canola oil, melted Earth Balance baking sticks or butter

2 tablespoons maple syrup, plus enough for glazing

Preheat oven to 450F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with parchment paper.

Grate the orange zest and juice the orange.  Add almond milk to make 2/3 cup of liquid.  

Measure 2 cups sifted flour into a bowl, add baking powder and soda and sift together. Stir in walnuts.  In another bowl combine mashed sweet potato, oil and maple syrup.  Blend the dry and wet ingredients together. Add enough flour for a fairly stiff dough that can still be dropped by spoonful.

Spoon 9 biscuits onto a baking sheet, spaced as far apart as possible.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until biscuits are browned.  Place them on a baking rack and lightly brush the tops with maple syrup.

Meanwhile at the beach, the sun made an appearance.

Pear Clafouti

It's all pears and apples at the markets now. I wanted a pear clafouti--can this pass for breakfast fare?  Or is it a dessert?  I think I'd eat it any time it came out of the oven.

Use any kind of pear you want. 

The original recipe listed Bartlett; I like Bosc, and these Seckel pears are a good choice too. Also don't limit yourself to four pears.  Use as many as you want to cover the bottom of the pan.

This recipe came from my book.  Check out my book for more recipes like this one.

This  recipe in my cookbook came from Jenette Herman of Cliffside Orchards. It's like custard. I didn't quite have enough pears to crowd the bottom but the wonderful custard between the pears is to die for.

Seriously, I don't mind giving up bread things for a few weeks if I could have more of these treats.

In my book three eggs is a bit much to replace without losing texture, so I checked to see how vegans handled clafouti. Most used silken tofu as an egg-replacement like this vegan cherry clafouti. 

Pear Clafouti
(Serves 4)

4 ripe Bartlett pears, or 6 to 8 Seckel pears, cut in half
3 eggs, beaten, or 6 ounces silken tofu, blended
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup milk, soy or almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon brandy
Salt
Powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Oil or butter a 9-inch round cake pan.  Lay pears cut side down.

2. Combine the eggs or tofu and sugar using a mixer in a large bowl.  Beat until foamy and thick. Add flour and mix until a soft batter forms, then stir in milk, vanilla extract, and brandy, if desired.  Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.  Pour mixture over the pears and bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes.

Recipe from The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook, by Debra Daniels-Zeller.

Here is what it looks like with berries added:

Oh those berries. . . 

Orange-Walnut Sweet Rolls

Sometimes I escape into baking and I'd been on a spree lately, making dog biscuits, muffins and most recently these sweet rolls. I'd wanted to use my favorte walnuts from Grouse Mountain, I usually splurge with these local treasures at least once evey fall. 

I said "been on a baking spree"because shortly after I made these rolls (the next day), I gave up bread products. For just 14 days, but still.  It all started as a conversation, "what would it be like to give up candy, ice cream--something you like." I mean really like.

Okay, after I said, I'm in for 14 days, I ate my share of the rolls first. 

I used a recipe from this old pamphlet Mom gave me decades ago.  It's actually one of the first things I ever baked on my own.

I'm not exactly sure of the year, but the winning recipe in this one was from Mrs. Henry Jorgenson from Portland, Oregon. Is she anyone's grandmother?  Is she still around? She won $25,000 and she said was for her son's college education. Today $25,000 might only buy a year's tuition. In the 50s that money would have paid for the entire 4 years of college and you'd probably have some money left over.  I used her recipe called "Ring-a-Lings."

I didn't exactly follow her recipe. I left out the eggs.  The nut filling was with hazelnuts. (Go figure, Portland, right).  I prefer walnuts, but the orange flavoring could really enhance hazelnuts. 

But recipes are for changing.  For bread, all you really need are yeast, warm liquid, flour, salt and oil. The rest is optional. The rest is tweaking.  I could have also made them pumpkin by adding some pureed pumpkin. Maybe next time.

Don't omit the salt, or it will seriously taste flat.

Local flour with yeast bread can be tricky. I don't really bake much, so I don't have a scale for accuracy.

Fourteen days without bread?  Just in case you decide to go without, do it after you've eaten your share.

A big thank you to Mrs. Henry Jorgenson.

Orange-Walnut Sweet Rolls

(Makes 1 dozen rolls)

These rolls are for days when you have some time at home to let them rise.  I generally let them rise three times, with the last rise as shaped rolls, but the original recipe had only two rises. Before you start, it's est to heat the almond milk in a microwave for 30 seconds at a time until it is hot.  The yeast needs the liquid to be 105F to activate.

1 package yeast

1/2 cup hot almond milk

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons honey or 1 tablespoon agave nectar

3 to 4 cups unbleached flour (or use a 50/50 mixture of hard wheat and unbleached flour)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablesoon fresly grated orange zest

1/4 cup melted butter or Earth Balance

Filling:

1/2 cup Earth Balance or softened butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped tart cherries or currants

Glaze:

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

3 tablespoon sugar for glaze

1. Dissolve yeast in milk and orange juice.  Let it sit for 5 minutes.  Mix in the honey.  Stir in flour, salt orange zest.  Stir until a dough begins to form.  Add the butter or Earth Balance and continue to mix until a thick dough forms, adding flour to make dough very thick. Continue to mix until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is thick enough to handle.

2. Knead dough until it becomes smooth and elastic.  Shape it into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl to rise for 1 hour.  Let it rise in a warm place.  Make sure no drafts hit the dough while it is rising.  When it is doubled in bulk, push the dough down.  Knead again and let it rise once more for about 30 minutes.  (Test the dough with the poke method.  If the dough fills in right away after poking it, it still needs to rise.  If the indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.)

3. Combine the ingredients for the filling while dough is rising the second time.

4. Turn dough out onto a floured board after the second rise.  Let it sit 5 minutes, then pull or roll the dough to a rectangle--about 22 by 12-inches.  Spread the filling over half the wide side of the dough.  Fold the other half over the dough, so you have a sandwich with the filling in the center.

5. Slice 12 strips.  Take each filled strip and twist it around.  Form the twists into a circle, pinching the dough together.

6. Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Cover with a damp towel or an oiled piece of plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.  Make glaze from orange juice and sugar.

7. Preheat oven to 350F.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Rolls will be lightly browned.  Remove from oven and brush with glaze.  Bake 5 minutes more.  Tops should be golden brown.

I nearly didn't take this picture because it shows my primitive baking skills.  I was a little worried about the thin sections.

And try to spead the filling evenly.  You can see the challenges of too much filling when it comes to twisting the dough.

Just when I was sure they wouldn't turn out, it all came together.

I wasn't the only one impressed with how easily they came together.

The last rise takes about an hour.  Salt and fat slow down the rise.  I added little currants to the filling.  My Cooking Assistant can only dream. Currants like raisins aren't good for dogs, so he had to settle for a dog biscuit for his modeling fee.

Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Cider Muffins

I wanted to experiment with non-gluten grains more, so I decided to go gluten-free for a few weeks. 

Here's what I learned:

1.  Get ready to spend more money because many gluten-free options are more expensive than wheat based foods.  It could be because wheat is a subsidized crop.

2. Wheat is in most processed foods, making label-reading a priority when shopping.

3. I became more aware of what I was eating.  For substitutes, I opted for more fruit and vegetables which also cost more than commodity crops.  

4. Living on $100 or less is hard if you need to be gluten free.

5.  Living without wheat gave me a much more varied diet.

This recipe was inspired by an old chocolate vegan cake recipe that listed baking soda and vinegar to make the batter rise.

I made it once and replaced the cold water with apple cider. For flour I used rice, oat bran, tapioca flour and xantham gum.  I added pecans for texture, and they were good, but I felt like something was missing.

The next time I made the recipe I used a sweet tart apple, diced.  For more flavor, I added cinnamon and nutmeg.

My favorite apple cider and apple cider vinegar from Rockridge Orchards.

Any time is a good time for muffins.

These muffins will stay fresh for days.  To reheat simply place in the oven and the outside caramelizes, while the inside is soft and cake-like.

When the two weeks came to an end, I discovered wheat doesn't really seem to affect my digestion much, but I liked my new diet so much, I decided to reduce my wheat consumption to a few times a week, no more than rice or quinoa.

If you eat wheat more than once a day, maybe these muffins will inspire you to give up wheat for a week or more to see what you're missing.

Wheat, Egg and Dairy-Free Apple Cider Muffins

(Makes 6 to 8 muffins)

Use your favorite apples for this sweet muffin recipe. I like Pink Lady or Honey Crisp for these muffins and if I cut them early, I toss them with a little lemon juice to preserve the color.

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour

1/2 cup oat bran

3 tablespoons tapioca flour

1 teaspoon xantham gum

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup cold apple cider

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 sweet-tart apple, core removed, small dice

1/4 to 1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 375F.  Combine rice flour, oat bran, tapioca flour, xantham gum, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves together in a large mixing bowl.  Sift them together if you want for better mixing. Blend in the brown sugar.

Oil muffin tins.  Combine apple cider, apple cider vinegar and canola oil.  Blend the wet with the dry ingredients. Fold in apples and nuts last.  

Spoon into muffin tins, about 3/4 full.  Add about 2 tablespoons water to every empty tin.  Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.   Loosen the muffins by cutting around them, and let the muffins sit for 5 minutes before removing from tins. These muffins are best eaten warm with just a hint of butter or Earth Balance spread.